Goldfish is known to be one of the first breed of domesticated fishes since ancient times. Goldfish belongs to a family of freshwater fishes. The life span of a goldfish generally tend to be up to 30 years.
However, I have come across gold fishes in India with a life span of maximum 12 years.
Goldfish is also known to require less maintenance. But to get the maximum life span from your goldfish you need to give it the maximum care, nutrition, cleanliness and check on its other needs.
Before getting yourself a goldfish you have to know basics of how to take care of goldfish at home. I have managed to collect some tips on how to do that:
1.) Tank size – Did you know the gold fish which you buy from the pet shops are not full grown and a fully grown gold fish can reach a size of up to 10 inch. Every gold fish needs 10 gallons of water. So for every gold fish count you need you need extra 10 gallons of water space for it (1 gallon = 3785 cubic centimeters).
2.) Temperature – Generally a goldfish can survive the normal water temperature. However, like mentioned earlier the longevity of a goldfish depends on temperature as well. Do invest some money to buy a reliable aquarium thermometer from eBay or amazon.in. The ideal temperature for gold fish would be approximately 23°C/74°F.
3.) Air Supply – Ideal temperature is needed for maximum supply of oxygen for your fish. If the water temperature is around 30°C/86°F then the supply of oxygen wont be sufficient enough for the goldfish. Avoid buying fish tanks that is tall in nature. For maximum oxygen supply it needs large surface area. Prefer a wider tank for maximum surface area. Also install an aerator to refill the oxygen in your tank.
4.) Scenery and light – Scenery and light is not needed for goldfish and is more of a human necessity. Adding some scenery and light makes the fish tank look good. On a personal note kids visiting your house also will get attracted to them and tend to remain calm looking at them. While adding some lighting do remember any fish needs 12 hours light and 12 hours darkness. Add some freshwater plans to make it look natural.
You can also add some gravel to make it look more sea like. While selecting the gravel do notice the size of the gravel. Goldfish generally tend to swallow the gravel and spit it out. So you can either choose a larger size or a size such that your goldfish does not choke itself.
5.) Filter – Every aquarium needs filter and goldfish is no exception. The clearer the water is the the healthier your goldfish will be. There are 3 types of filters. The most reasonable filter is Hang on back filters and I am currently using it at my home too. These filters usually have a vacuum sticker which can stick on to the inside panels of the aquarium.
6.) Food – Goldfish can live for upto 1 week without food. However for its optimal health you need to feed a goldfish twice a day. Fish flakes is an ideal food for goldfish. Do not mix tropical fish flakes with goldfish flakes. Try feeding goldfish with varied nutritional diet.
Recommended best goldfish food
TetraBits Complete Fish Food for Growth and Health
- Complete is a staple food in granular form
- This food was optimally adapted to the special nutritional requirement of discus fish with regard to colour, shape and formula
- The slowly sinking food suits the typical eating habits of discus fish
- Contains all essential nutrients, vitamins and trace elements
- No risk of disease transmission by pathogens compared to frozen food
Hikari Sakii Fancy Goldfish Fish Food
- Motor casing and cable remain in place in the aquarium while the filter compar ent slides out easily and safely for cleaning removing all dirt particles
- Complete with filter cartridge and venture air diffusor
- Twist outlet for outflow direction
Northfin Fish Food Goldfish Formula 2mm Pellet
- Formula is Filler Free, Bi-product Free and Artificial Pigment Free with no added Hormones
- A Marine Protein Based Diet allows your fish to fully digest and absorb more Nutrients; Your Fish stay healthy and produce less Waste in your Tank
- Key Ingredients: Whole Antartic Krill Meal, High Omega-3 DHA Herring Meal, Organic Kelp, Spirulina
- Slow Sinking Pellet
- Made In Canada
7.) Cleaning – I always prefer separating the fish into a separate tank/vessel to avoid accidental injuries to the fish. Turn of all the electrical like the lighting, filter, pumps and so on. You can get one of the siphon fish pumps from amazon.in and extract the water by leaving around 15% to 20% of water in the tank itself. The reason of leaving this water is to leave some of the good bacteria. You can replace the water with fresh water and run the filter for a while like around 15 minutes. You can replace the fish back and monitor for changes in the fish behavior.
If you feel the gravel is extremely dirty with fish faeces, you can collect the gravel in a separate bowl and clean the dirt and put them back in. This is an optional step as we do not want to be missing on the good bacteria which the fish needs.
8.) Diseases – The most common disease in goldfish is the white spot disease. This is highly contagious and can easily spread. Not to worry of as this can be easily cured with care. Whenever you find a goldfish suffering from this disease immediately isolate the infected fish into a separate tank/vessel. You can treat this disease by salt and heat treatment. Once the fish is quarantined you can put the fish back to its good old friends. There are still around 6 varieties of parasitic diseases which I will cover in another post along with remedies.
In case you still have some more doubts on the upkeep of goldfish you can put your queries in the comments section. I can try to answer it for you or get it resolved by the professionals. photo credit: IMG_3546 via photopin(license)
